The Australian housing challenge not being solved
Australia's rapidly growing older population has more wealth than ever and millions of spare bedrooms, yet financial incentives are pulling many away from downsizing, new research suggests.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-australian-housing-mystery-that-remains-unsolved/vky4l0fivOpen linkView original on leminal.space
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That same demographic was also affecting the persistent inflation issue with post retirement spending. But of course that little bit of information keeps getting pushed out of the way.
And why would anyone who owns a large home with little to no mortgage want to downsize? Where’s the incentive? I have family and some older work colleagues who are in this exact situation. And they just bitch on about how terrible Labor is. All the while decrying the stalled house prices.
It’s like a social sickness.
The main incentive of downsizing is to free up capital. However, primary residences are exempt from pension asset tests and you also get hit with stamp duty. Fix those two and I can see many more older Australians downsizing.